A War of Worlds
by Crazyeight
Summary: After the D-Reaper humanity came to accept that they were no longer alone in the universe. What they didn't realize was that they were less alone than they thought. With the real and digital worlds coming under attack by an unknown foe, the Tamers take up arms again to save all that they hold dear... All that is close to their hearts.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A War of the Worlds

Chapter: 1

By fate or design, humanity was not alone in the universe. At the end of the twentieth century, no one would have believed that such a thing could occur within their lifetime, but by the start of the twenty-first, it had become the most significant moment in human history. Around its solitary shining star that granted it life, the Earth spun with its partner moon, small and seemingly insignificant against the backdrop of the void. Once humanity held sole dominion over this blue marble teaming with life, but now that was no longer the case. Through an unexpected twist of fortune, life born from its digital communication network—known as digimon—brought humanity back to the struggle for supremacy. Of late, a truce had been declared between the humans and the artificial life of their making, and for the time being they went about their lives, interrupted by the occasional foray into the other's domain.

They were not alone however. Since long before the most recent battle between these two groups concluded, their world fell under the watchful eye of another, and it regarded them with envy. Studying them as one would a virus, slowly they drew their plans against the humans and the digimon. When they deemed themselves ready, they launched themselves out into the void.

**###**

Standing atop a series of stairs outside a concrete hut was a young, teenage girl with red hair. Her arms were folded over her chest, hiding the violet heart shape emblazoned on her T-Shirt. It had been given to her by her mother in the hopes that it would give her luck. For the longest time, it seemed that luck held up, but for the first time in the year and a half that she received it, she began to question whether it had finally run out.

Leaning her back against the concrete hut, Rika Nonaka heaved an agitated sigh and she began to tap her foot on the ground impatiently.

"I'm sure he'll be here any second," came a childish, nasally voice from within the hut. Rika glanced at the entrance, where within stood a crimson-scaled dinosaur with a large hazard symbol emblazoned on its chest. The creature—a digimon named Guilmon,—shrunk a little in fear and twin bat-wing-like ears folded against its head.

"I'm sure he will be," Rika replied, her tone only revealing her frustration, "any second from here until tomorrow."

A breeze blew over her and a new voice—this one strong and feminine sounding—spoke up. Rika didn't even have to look to see who it belonged to.

"Rika, he did say that he would run a little late."

"Uh-huh!" contributed the nasally voice, sounding a bit desperate to calm Rika. "He has to help his parents and do his chores before he can leave."

Turning a pair of lavender eyes on a humanoid, fox-like creature—a digimon named Renamon and someone who was special to her in ways that went beyond what the words friendship and family could describe—with golden fur and purple arm gloves, Rika fixed her with a hard look that lasted only a moment before she turned away, her expression softening.

"I know Renamon," she said in a gentler voice. "I just wish he'd get here already…" _…so we can get this over with, _she almost said out loud, but she caught herself at the last moment.

The vulpine digimon, as if sensing her unspoken thoughts, reached out and placed a paw-like hand and the girl's shoulder.

"He'll be here, Rika. He promised he would go with you, and you know Takato keeps his promises." A small, barely visible smile crossed her muzzle as she continued. "Even if he does it inelegantly."

Rika returned the smile and the vulpine vanished into thin air, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts. She sighed and tightened her grip around herself. In all honesty she wasn't really angry with Takato for not getting at the arranged meeting place. They may have only been friends for a year and a half—not long compared to his relationship with some of their other friends like Kazu and Kenta—but she had long since gotten used to the boy's antics. Besides, as she pointed out on more than one occasion herself, his heart was always in the right place, even if his feet weren't.

_So why is my heart beating like crazy?_ she wondered, adjusting her arms beneath her breasts. She scowled, wanting to place some measure of blame on the source of their development for causing her to be in such a predicament. She had only meant to help him at the start! Now though…

Rika closed her eyes, attempting to fight down the dark blush that she now felt burning her cheeks.

_What was I thinking?! Asking him to go Cherry Blossom watching with me?! I must have been crazy!_

She could only be grateful that none of the others knew about this little outing. She would never hear the end of it then. The irony… Terriermon—annoying little dog-rabbit that he was—would be the first to say that he saw it coming ever since Takato asked her the same question a little over a year ago.

She could almost hear him now. _"The Digimon Queen has softened up to old Takatomon of all people? Wow! He must've made a heck of an impression on you last year when he played the knight in shining armor!"_

_ I swear,_ Rika thought, her fingers digging into her arms. _If he finds out, I'll make sure he 'momentai's' all right…in a hospital room!_

The promise of bodily harm to the rabbit-like digimon did little to alleviate her concerns. The fact remained that she was in a predicament and unless she found a way to either reconcile herself to the situation of her own making or somehow get out of it, she would remain in it, and that, she feared, would only lead to trouble.

Closing her violet eyes, Rika brought the back of her head to rest on the concrete hut, her mind whirling like a hurricane as it attempted to find a solution. Unfortunately for her, she found none that she could be comfortable with. She could not back out without hurting her sense of pride, and she was afraid of to be honest without hurting the friend she cared so much about.

_I…do care about him…right?_ Rika couldn't help but wonder, hearing the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. Pushing away from the wall she stepped over to the top of the stairs and found a brown-haired boy wearing a blue hoodie racing up to her location, a grocery bag in hand. His oddly-colored eyes—a warm red—looked up in her direction and a smile broke across his face.

"Hey Rika!" he said, his breath coming out in gasps as he reached the top of the stairs. "S-Sorry I'm late." He stopped in front of her and adjusted the grocery bag, attempting to catch his breath. "There was a long line at the bakery and my parents really needed the help. We outsold the Guilmon bread…"

"Yay!" crowed Guilmon from inside the hut and the metal bars at its entrance shook lightly as he waved powerful arms through the air in a dance-like manner. "Guilmon bread! Guilmon bread! A loaf of bread, shaped like my head!"

"Now you've done it," Rika snorted, moving to the side to allow the boy by. A jovial smile touched her lips as the boy went over and unlocked the cage. "Better feed Dino-boy already so we can get out of here and not have to clean up after him."

"I'll be done in a second," Takato quickly replied, shooting her a smile that practically screamed nervous. Rika felt a little bit better seeing it and relaxed visibly while he gave the bag full of bread to his dinosaur companion.

_Well, I guess he's got good reason to be,_ she thought, smiling a little. _Going to watch the cherry blossoms… It almost looks like I asked him out on a date. _Her heart fluttered slightly and she felt the butterflies take off in her belly. Her smile disappeared in that one heartbeat and she resisted the urge to grimace. _Almost feels like we've been dating for a year too…and I've got no one to blame but myself for that._

Rika had never been much for praying to gods, but all the same she found herself wishing that this…_excursion_ went well, if only so that neither of them were left with that impression. Good intentions, however, never seemed to go unpunished. Like the old saying went, the road to Hell was paved with them.

She felt Renamon's concern trickle through the mental link that she shared, no doubt in response to the way she was working herself up over this and Rika forced herself to calm down.

_It's nothing. We're just friends going out together. You could say that I'm taking him back up on his offer from last year to make up for after the Parasimon invasion ruined it. Even though he was just trying to distract me so Jeri and grandma could finish the surprise party…_

"Rika?" Takato asked, looking at her with a worried expression on his face. Rika jerked out of her thoughts, her face rapidly heating up again in embarrassment.

"Wha…? Sorry. I zoned out for a second there." She glanced away, trying to hide her blush. "Are you all done feeding Dino-boy?"

Takato nodded and together, with some degree of hesitation on both their parts, they went down the stairs toward the park path that would take them in the direction of the cherry blossom trees that were now in bloom. Together, they would face their fears, their concerns and, hopefully, overcome them.

_Why do things have to be so complicated?_ Rika wondered, hooking her fingers around her belt next to the white, blue-trim, arc-shaped device clipped to her side, twin to the gold-trim device that lay inside the pocket of the boy walking next to her.

**###**

Government organizations that deal with information gathering and monitoring of potential and actual criminal activity are normally kept secret. Some operate in the light of day with full civilian approval, but some work best in the shadows without such approval. For Japan, the agency known as Hypnos had once been one of these organizations—the operators in the shadows that kept a silent vigil on the borders between the world of humans and that of the digital monsters that constantly attempted to cross the boundaries that kept the two apart. Since the war with the malevolent digital entity known as the _D-Reaper_ Hypnos had been forcibly brought into the light…and for a wonder actually basked in it.

That wasn't to say that Hypnos' activities, never mind its very existence, sat wrong with numerous citizens and politicians, but its role in the war with the D-Reaper, ultimately being one of two groups that saved humanity from its genocidal rampage, went a long way to put it in good light.

Mitsuo Yamaki flicked his lighter open and closed with slow movements as he looked at the readouts from Hypnos' main control room. Swiveling on a chair above him was Tally, scanning incoming information. The data coming in from the digital world was rather light, so Yamaki wasn't particularly worried about any intrusions today, especially since they went through recent upgrades that gave them improved scanning capabilities.

_All quiet on the western front,_ Yamaki thought with amusement, flicking his lighter closed once again. He smiled. Hypnos was running better than ever, and bio-emergences from the digital world were becoming much more manageable.

_I wonder if this is a sign of things to come. If we'll be able to make peace between our worlds. Humans and digimon working together… _He flicked his lighter open, thinking of the children—the _Tamers—_that fought and sacrificed in the war against the D-Reaper and the Devas before it. They were the way to the future, and together with Hypnos' new resources, everything that he initially imagined ever since the digital world and its inhabitants were first discovered felt like a distant memory, if not merely a nightmare, quickly forgotten once awake.

_It's too soon to tell. The Sovereigns of the digital world won't come to the peace table easily. Azulongmon perhaps, but the others…they will take time. Especially Zhuqiaomon._ Yamaki frowned, closing his lighter. Well, they could afford to wait and hope. _He_ could afford to hope…

An alarm suddenly blared on the main monitor and Tally's seat swiveled over to it, her fingers flying across her console. Yamaki furrowed his brow, looking up at the computer readout.

_That's odd,_ he thought, taking in the incoming information. _There appears to be a bio-emergence, but there's nothing registering in the dimensional barriers between the worlds. What is…going on?_

"Tally! Report!"

"Uncertain sir," Tally replied. "I'm getting an abnormal germination pattern but there doesn't appear to be a bio-emergence occurring. It could be some old data bouncing off satellites. Cross-referencing now."

Yamaki nodded and returned his attention to the readout. There was something…odd about the direction of the signal. Something had tripped Hypnos' sensors and they reacted, but not in the usual way. _Could this be a new attack from a different direction? _Yamaki went over to the nearest control panel to join Tally in analyzing the information. First however he pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.

If nothing else, the Tamers had to be on guard just in case this turned out to be the real deal.

**###**

A/N: So I got bit by the Rukato bug last week and got to thinking about how to go about it again. I'm a bit rusty with the romance however and I struggled a bit to find something of an interesting setting. Listening to the old radio broadcast of 'The War of the Worlds' got me thinking though, and as tonight is Halloween I figured I'd add something similar to the plot to make it a tad bit festive. A bit late to make this an October project, but I'm going to have fun with this all the same. It'll be a bit of a shorter piece compared to what I've been doing lately though. At any rate, I hope you all enjoyed the start to this story and I'll see you all next chapter. :D

'Till then. Happy Halloween!

-Crazyeight

4


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A War of Worlds

Chapter: 2

Takato Matsuki checked the time furtively as he rang up a customer. He was badly distracted, and it showed, but he managed to keep his head and not mess up making change. If there was one thing that all his years helping out his parents around the bakery had done, it had engrained in him a healthy fear of the consequences that would occur should he cause a complication—namely that it would come out of his allowance followed by stern looks for the remainder of the day. The stern looks he could at least deal with in spite of the twinges that they forced from his conscience, but the impact on his finances had a tendency to cause complications of their own.

_Rika's glares are scarier anyway,_ he chuckled mentally as he handed the customer their purchase. He breathed a sigh of relief as this one proved to be the last in what had so far proven to be a very long line. He checked the time again. The minutes rapidly ticked toward 11:00. _Rika's probably already at the park…_

He scratched the side of his head around the edge of his hairnet, feeling a bit perplexed about Rika having…well, he hesitated to call it a 'date', but the nagging voice of Henry's partner, Terriermon, insisted on identifying it as just that.

_I listen to him too much,_ he thought before a finger tapping on his shoulder caused him to jerk slightly in surprise. Spinning his head around, his eyes fell on his father, who smiled at him in amusement.

"Off in the digital world?" Takehiro asked sarcastically. Takato sheepishly laughed.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Just…um… Yeah. I guess you could say that."

"Better snap out of it kiddo," Takehiro replied. "Otherwise you'll lose track of time." He pointed at the clock meaningfully. "We're all caught up here now. You said that you have a friend waiting for you in the park, right?"

A smile broke across Takato's face and he bobbed his head up and down. Stepping around his father, the young teen rushed away from the counter and turned into the stairwell that led up to the living quarters section of the bakery. "Thanks Dad," he called, taking the steps two at a time, bashing his shin on one as he went. Swallowing a cry, he made it to his room and threw off his apron and hairnet. Snatching up a pair of yellow goggles from off his desk he strapped them to his forehead.

"Okay…" he muttered, checking his pockets for anything he might have forgotten. "House keys… Wallet… Digivice… Cards…" He nodded to himself. "I think I'm ready to go."

His gaze turned toward a tie hanging from a coat hook along with a suit and he wondered if he should put it on, or at least wear something nicer than his usual everyday clothes like his favored short sleeved hoodie, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

_I'm pretty sure Rika isn't going to go to the trouble of looking nice. I mean, it's not like we're…well…I don't know._ Once again he scratched the side of his head, wondering at the changes a year and a half had made on his friend since he first met her. Last year around this time—not exactly this time, but a couple months prior—he asked her to go watch the Cherry Blossoms with him and she rebuffed him, and was quite irritated that he even made the offer in the first place. Some months before she even attacked him.

_Now it's like we're best friends,_ he thought with a smile. _Well…best human friends anyway._ Yes, that description made him feel better. It did away with the nagging feeling that things were not the way they were supposed to be…prompted no doubt by Terriermon and his penchant for teasing over every little thing. He furrowed his brow slightly, remembering that because of this, Rika had waited until they were alone before popping the question to him.

**###**

_ The sun was setting to their backs as Takato waved at the departing Henry and his long-eared trouble-maker, sitting astride his shoulder. Both waved back, Terriermon using one of his long ears to make the gesture._

_ "Good luck you two!" he called in a playful, almost sing-song voice that he recently adopted solely for Takato and Rika._

_ "Terriermon…" Takato heard Henry groan. Laughing with embarrassment, he turned to Rika, who had her arms folded over her chest and was looking in Terriermon's direction with an annoyed expression on her face. For a moment, Takato thought he saw a slight blush touch her cheeks, but quickly decided for safety's sake that it was just the sun playing tricks on his eyes._

_ "Well boy," he said, turning to his crimson-scaled dinosaur partner, patting him on his head. "Guess it's time for us to get going."_

_ "Uh, huh," Guilmon nodded, nuzzling his face into Takato's hand. "Do you think there'll be peanut butter waiting when we get there?" His gold-colored eyes took on an almost desperate expression and he looked up at the sky wistfully. "Oh, I hope, I hope…"_

_ "He never stops thinking about eating, does he?" Rika chided, dropping her hands to her waist. "Guess your mom's decision to put him on a diet isn't working out so well, is it?"_

_ "Better than you'd think," Takato replied with a light chuckle as they both began to head down the street. Rika's home lay in the opposite direction, but her family was lighter about her curfew than Takato's. Besides, of late she had taken to walking Takato to his place before they parted ways. Something that Terriermon almost incessantly referred to as a reversal of how things were normally done…whatever that meant._

_ "No it's not!" Guilmon denied vehemently. "Every day I go home my tummy feels empty and it growls at me while I'm sleeping." His ears wilting, Guilmon touched his claws to his stomach and pouted. "I keep having dreams that I'm wrestling with a Hungermon…"_

_ "Guilmon…" Rika rolled her eyes. "There _is_ no Hungermon…"_

_ "What's your point? There wasn't a me before until Takato drew me."_

_ Rika whirled her head about, her eyes wide with surprise at that unexpected counter. Her lips moved as she strove to come up with a rebuttal, but unable to do so she settled on glaring at Guilmon. The red dinosaur tilted his head to one side as he stared back, but quickly looked away, looking shaken._

_ "Ohhh… I never win a staring contest with you…"_

_ "Keep dreaming dino-boy…" Rika replied proudly, hooking her fingers through her belt. "Remember, I'm called the Digimon Queen for a reason." She glanced at Takato thoughtfully. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?"_

_ "Tomorrow?" Takato patted his hand over Guilmon's head as he mentally ran through his schedule. "Besides helping out my parents, I don't think I'm doing anything…"_

_ "Do you want to go Cherry Blossom watching with me?"_

_ The abruptness of Rika's question caused Takato to almost miss it and he blinked at her in surprise. "Say wha…?" he found himself saying, utterly taken aback by what Rika asked._

_ "It's a simple question, Gogglehead," the girl replied casually…or was it? Takato thought he heard a hint of agitation in her tone. She tended to use her nickname for him whenever she was particularly annoyed with something he did…or playful._

_ "Um…yeah, I guess it is… I mean it's a yes or no answer…" Takato half-stammered, half-chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, flustered. "Uh… Yes?"_

_ "Is that an answer or are you asking a question?"_

_ "Yes! I mean, yes. To yours. I mean… Yeah. I'd be glad to go Cherry Blossom watching with you."_

_ Takato breathed heavily—missing Rika relax visibly—feeling a little bit better now that he had given a definite response…as bizarre as the question was in the first place. "W-What time do you want to meet?"_

_ Rika was silent for a moment before answering. "Ten thirty sound good?"_

_ "That…might be a little difficult," Takato admitted. "I've got to help my parents with the morning rush…"_

_ "Fine. Sometime between ten and twelve," Rika cut in. They came to a stop at an intersection, waiting for the crosswalk light to change. Brushing aside a loose strand of hair, she turned toward him, her eyes still thoughtful and considering. Takato felt butterflies flutter slightly in his stomach at her gaze, but he held it. "Well," she began, "I guess this is where I take off."_

_ Takato blinked again at that. This was a change of pace, one that he found himself rather…sad about. "Okay," he said with a nod. "Um… See you tomorrow."_

_ "Later, Takato," Rika returned as the crosswalk light changed._

**###**

_ Is it just that weird that she wants to hang out with me?_ Takato wondered as he piled day-old bread into a bag for Guilmon. _So why does Terriermon have to make it so that we have a hard time talking whenever someone else is around?_

The answer came to him almost as soon as he asked it. _We are getting older…_

Takato sighed. _Great. Now I'm talking to myself. This is crazy. All we're doing is hanging out! It's not like we're…!_

"Takato!" came the voice of his mother as she appeared around the corner. Startled, Takato nearly dropped the back and its contents onto the ground.

"Mom!" he half-squawked. Another downside of getting older was that his voice was cracking a lot more than normal. His friend Kazu, being slightly older, had it worse fortunately.

Mie _hmmphed_ at him. "You don't have to act so guilty bringing Guilmon bread you know. Anyway, you have a call on the phone."

"Rika?" Takato asked, raising an eyebrow, already wondering who could be calling him at this time and could only come up with one person. _Maybe she got tired of waiting…_

This thought left him feeling crushed, as though he had let her down.

"No," Mie shook her head. "It's Jeri."

"Jeri?!" Takato's eyes bulged in their sockets in pleasant surprise. _This_ was something he hadn't expected. How long had it been since she last called? It felt like forever…

"Yes, Jeri. Now would you stop standing there gawking and stop leaving that poor girl waiting for you? Some of us have to get back to work you know! We sold out all the Guilmon bread after all…"

"Ah!" Takato started, shaking himself out of his stunned amazement. Hefting the bag he raced around his mother in the direction of the house phone. A smile drew across his face. He could not wait to hear what she had to say…and betted that Rika would want the same.

**###**

"Jeri's coming to visit?" Rika asked, her eyes widening ever so slightly as Takato finished relaying the news to her. The goggle-wearing boy nodded.

"She said that she's going to be in town this afternoon with her stepmom, so she's going to try and see everyone if she can."

Rika turned her gaze away and up toward a passing cloud, her expression solemn. "Jeri…" she muttered under her breath, her brow furrowing slightly. "Did she say how she was doing?"

"She seemed happy," Takato said evasively. "I mean, she said she was doing fine when I asked, but…"

Takato trailed off and Rika filled in the blanks. "Yeah. _But."_

For their mutual friend, Jeri Katou, they couldn't say that she had been the happiest girl around, not since the events of the D-Reaper invasion and, prior to that, the death of her partner, Leomon. In fact, one could go further back with the death of her birth mother when she had only been a child, which only led back to the D-Reaper as it repeatedly forced that trauma upon her to get what it needed. The situation had been complicated, but suffice to say her family checked her into therapy and involved themselves heavily in her recuperation. Everyone that was her friend or family, Tamer or not, involved themselves, but after the last big invasion, Jeri's father decided that enough was enough and pulled up stakes, vacating the Shinjuku district for someplace that saw less trouble. More importantly, saw less digimon than the one that Jeri more or less adopted. Either way, the fact of the matter remained that Jeri's father put enough distance between his daughter and Shinjuku that it made regular contact rather difficult.

Like Takato, Rika remembered the day that they bid goodbye to the puppet-loving girl. Thinking back on it, that had been the day she started down the path that led to her current predicament.

_The things we do for our friends…_

Rika resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest. It was too much of a nervous habit now.

_I want to be happy that we can see Jeri again…_ Rika narrowed her eyes as she dropped her gaze toward the path in front of them. _…but for some reason I just can't seem to be._

**###**

Guilmon followed the two Tamers at a discreet distance, primarily at Renamon's advice that he give them some privacy. He wasn't sure that he understood the reasons for this, but he went along with it all the same. After all, he considered Renamon to be 'always right' and he trusted her judgment when it came to things he didn't understand. Still…there was something that was a little bit off about the whole thing.

Coming to a stop, Guilmon drew himself up to his full height and looked around, unmindful of the stares he was getting from passersby. "Renamon?" he asked, and was rewarded as the golden-furred, vulpine digimon materialized next to him.

"Yes?"

"Takato and Rika smell like they're nervous about something. I mean, Takato almost always smells like he's nervous, but lately Rika's been smelling _more_ nervous. Especially today for some reason, and I can't figure out why."

"Hmmm…" Renamon spared the two teenagers a glance. "Rika's grandmother warned me that this could happen once Rika began to change."

Guilmon bobbed his head up and down. "Takato's dad said something similar to me once when I told him about the mustache Kenta started growing. Remember that? He said it was puberty. But I don't understand what that has to do with Rika being nervous." Guilmon tapped a claw to his chin. "Actually, Takato's dad smelled pretty nervous then too and he stuttered worse than Takato whenever…"

Renamon smiled slightly as Guilmon paused, trying to find the right word to describe his Tamer. "…whenever he acts like a Gogglehead?" she suggested coyly.

"Well, I didn't want to say it like that…" Guilmon admitted, dropping down slightly and resuming following their Tamers. Renamon fell into step beside him. "…but yeah. I wonder if that's where he gets it from." He tapped a claw to his chin again. "Renamon? How _do_ our partners get what they are from their parents?"

Renamon chuckled. She could understand her companion's confusion. Digimon did not have parents in the traditional sense that they had someone who gave birth to them and raised them. Some of the more civilized areas had herds and tribes…even caretakers of sorts, but overall it was a mon-eat-mon digital world. Guilmon was the closest digimon that she could think of who had someone approximating a parent, given that Takato _did_ create him—albeit with a digivice and a piece of notepad paper—and how the teen treated him in their early days, but the fact remained that digimon were physically divorced from the act of procreating while humans were biologically married to it. Friendship, family… Renamon and even Guilmon in a rather simplistic sense could understand the concepts, but how humans got something from someone else?

_"It's simple really. They just mash themselves together and scream real loudly."_

Renamon closed her eyes and sighed in exasperation at the memory of Terriermon bragging about his knowledge of humanity. There were times where she felt the rabbit-dog digimon was meant as a curse for the darkness of her early days.

Before she could begin to answer Guilmon's question, a faint buzzing in her arm-guard caught her attention. "Excuse me a moment," she said apologetically before fishing out Rika's cell phone from her arm-guard—Rika had requested that she hold onto it to avoid any calls from her mother asking how her 'date' was going. Narrowing her eyes, Renamon's claws fumbled with the buttons as she took in the incoming number.

_ Hypnos,_ she mused, her claw finally hitting answer. _This does not bode well…_

"Hello?" Renamon greeted, holding the phone in front of her mouth while her ears twitched, angling to catch the response. The phone was just not built for someone of her form. The required components were too far apart.

There was a pause on the other end, briefly leading Renamon to believe in spite of her sensitive hearing that she had somehow missed the reply, but soon enough a tentative response greeted her in return.

_"…Is this Rumiko Nonaka?"_ The voice on the other end was Yamaki, no doubt confused about getting a voice he had not been expecting.

"This is Renamon," the vulpine digimon answered. "I apologize, but I currently have Rika's phone. Is there something we can help you with?"

"Wow, Renamon," Guilmon said with wide eyes. "You sound just like those people in stores you go see if you have a problem…"

"Quiet, Guilmon," Renamon scolded, afraid that she would miss what Yamaki said. She narrowed her gaze, straining her senses. She detected no bio-emergences. What could the head of Hypnos want with them? The man was silent for a moment longer, digesting this odd change of pace before speaking again.

_"Our sensors are detecting an unusual occurrence that resembles a bio-emergence, but so far it doesn't fit the normal patterns. We're analyzing it now, but we want you to stay on guard in case something does break through."_

"Understood, Yamaki," Renamon nodded. "Will there be anything else?"

_"We'll call you if we have any further information,"_ Yamaki replied succinctly, and with that the call ended. Renamon eyed the phone contemplatively.

"Is there going to be trouble?" Guilmon asked, his bat-wing-like ears twitching. Although his hearing wasn't as good as Renamon's, it was sufficient enough for him to overhear the conversation.

"Perhaps," Renamon replied, replacing the phone back in her arm-guard. "We should tell the others." Closing her icy-blue eyes, she established contact with her partner through the mental link they shared. _"Rika, it seems that there may be a complication about today…"_

**###**

"Tracers report no breaches in the barriers," Riley heard Tally report as she entered the main control room. Raising an eyebrow she turned to Yamaki.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Possibly a scanner malfunction," Yamaki replied. "We detected what could have been a bio-emergence, but so far there has been no sign that the barriers between the worlds has changed or been infiltrated." Scowling, the blond-haired man flicked his lighter open, only to close it shut with a resounding click.

"You don't sound convinced," Riley remarked.

"We've tested our new systems exhaustively. No. I'm not convinced. Either we're dealing with an old signal—which doesn't fit since we've already run it through our archived history—or this is something new. If there is something coming, I want to know how they're doing this."

"Got it, sir," Riley nodded, heading over to her own chair and strapping herself in. Placing on her visor, she signed in and her chair rose into the air, joining Tally in the air.

"It's about time you got back," Tally chided.

"Sorry about the wait. I overheard someone listening to the news. Apparently something big just happened on Mars and it has the media up in arms abou…" Riley paused and frowned beneath her visor as a thought occurred to her. "Tally; in a second, link me up to one of our satellites. I'll show you which ones. I need to see something."

"You got it."

"Thanks." Riley quickly began checking for planetary positions in the night sky…not something they did normally, so it would take some time to see if they had any satellites in position.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally got the data she needed and fed it to her companion. Within seconds, one of the screens lit up and Riley swiveled over to it to get a visual.

A glowing white ball of fire that made Riley immediately think of a comet filled the screen. Only the problem was it was not a comet.

_If this data I'm getting from the satellite is right, then that thing is…_ "Sir!" she exclaimed, getting Yamaki's attention. "You might want to see this!"

6


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A War of the Worlds

Chapter: 3

It should have been impossible, yet the more Yamaki looked over the incoming data, the more possible it seemed. This wasn't an old signal, yet it had a signature akin to a bio-emergence from the digital world. Bio-emergences of signatures different from the norm had thus far not been encountered save for the arrival of the D-Reaper menace some years before, but that entity had been forcefully regressed into an immature state that was harmless to the modern digital organisms inhabiting the alternate-dimensional plane of existence. It was even doubtful that it still existed, as that world's rulers would not permit the risk of something that potentially devastating reemerging. Stranger still, was the direction that the signal was emanating from.

"Confirmed," came Riley's voice from her pedestal as she cross-referenced the data charts. "The digital signal is coming from _outside_ Earth's electromagnetic field. It is definitely connected to the unidentified object heading toward the Earth."

"Satellite scans indicate that the object is digital in nature," Tally added, swiveling in her chair. "It is surrounded by a streaming data feed akin to a digital field's fog barrier."

"Can you calculate what its course trajectory is?" Yamaki asked. His hand tightened around the lighter resting in his palm, resisting the urge to flick it open, as was his normal habit.

"Processing," replied Tally, feeding her commander's request into the computer. Within moments she had an answer. "Its destination is West Shinjuku. It should be arriving there in approximately five minutes."

_Fast…_ "Activate the Ancile program," Yamaki ordered. _Ancile_ was the newest program developed by the Monster Makers. Using the Juggernaut as a base, it created a small-scale vortex that sucked in its target, and then closed the door around it like a prison. Janyu and Shibumi, the chief designers, likened it to the quantum bubble that was used to revert the D-Reaper to its immature form only with one subtle difference. It allowed no entry to the digital world or the human world. A pocket-dimension of sorts, and a very useful one.

To date though, it had only been used once when an irate IceLadyDevimon bio-emerged during the New Year's holiday. Now it looked like it would get its second tryout.

"Activating," said Tally. "Adjusting satellites for atmospheric targeting."

"Sir," began Riley. "Ancile was designed to operate within close proximity to Earth's atmosphere where the digital world's distortive effects are strongest. At this range effectiveness decreases as much as fifty percent."

Yamaki frowned beneath his sunglasses and flicked his lighter open. "Get it ready, Riley," he ordered. "Calculate the best location along its present course and have it ready." Withdrawing his cell phone from his pocket he searched out Henry Wong's phone number and hit the call button. Considering the digital world's history of adapting workarounds to whatever firewalls and vortexes Hypnos threw in its way, he doubted that this newcomer—whatever it was—would be any different. It was always best to have a contingency plan…just in case.

As a teacher of his once said, the best laid plans never survived first contact with reality.

**###**

Rika looked furious.

There were those that she counted as friends, in the loosest sense of the word, who would lay claim to the idea that she was always furious. Her responses to Kazu and Kenta's childish antics aside, those who knew her best would attest that Rika was not in a constant state of anger; just that she had a no-nonsense attitude and wasn't afraid to speak her mind to her friends in regards to this. Therefore, Takato and Henry could easily argue that when it came to people like Kazu, Kenta, and Terriermon—particularly Terriermon who seemed to go out of his way to provoke such a response that not even Ryo Akiyama, Legendary Tamer of the group, would ever dare attempt—who received the majority of her negative responses, it was easy to see why she appeared in a state of perpetual frustration. However, Takato and Henry tended to be on her good side the most often, and as a result were able to differentiate her moments of short, heated bouts of frustration with _real_ anger.

Takato at this moment was baring witness to this moment. Rika looked _furious._

Guilmon and Renamon now walked beside them as they came beneath a blossoming Sakura Tree. In spite of their original reason for coming to this place, Rika did not so much as deign to look up at the spectacle and instead turned and planted her back to its trunk. Arms folded beneath her breasts, she glowered around her, silent and eyes narrowed and looking predatory. Takato felt Guilmon slink behind him, as though using him as a barrier between himself and the girl's wrath.

_Aren't you the one who's supposed to be protecting me?_ Takato thought sarcastically, glancing down at his partner, who watched Rika warily. Looking back at Rika, he patted his partner on the head and offered a bit of a dopy smile.

Rika did not smile back, and instead her violet eyes darted away.

_Well, it was worth a shot…_

At this point, he wasn't sure if there was anything he could say that would alleviate her temper. When she was in a bad mood she tended to respond to attempts at comfort just as readily as she would the source of her anger. The best he could do was…just…be there, and wait alongside her for her storms to pass.

_Or just be her verbal punching bag,_ he chuckled thoughtfully. Breaking away from Guilmon, he strode up to the tree and sat down against it alongside her. She glanced his way, surprised for a moment, before looking away.

"I knew this was a bad idea," she said after a moment of silence passed between them.

Takato raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?" he asked, honestly surprised by this. Well, actually he guessed that he wasn't all that surprised now that he thought about it. "I mean, I know there's not really a whole lot when it comes to looking at Cherry Blossoms but…"

"That's why I think they're stupid," Rika interrupted harshly. "But that wasn't what I was talking about."

Takato craned his head, listening. She sighed audibly and bumped the back of her head against the tree.

"This happened last year too you know. When the Parasimon invaded? You asked me then. Should have known that it would happen again this year too."

"It's no big deal," Takato said, once again offering her a comforting smile. "We're _here_, and Yamaki did say that it might not be a bio-emergence, didn't he?"

"You know just as well as I do how our luck runs sometimes," Rika countered, a sarcastic note entering her voice. "I'll bet your WarGreymon card that it's a bio-emergence and we'll get into a fight because Yamaki and his bunch can't keep it out. That's how it goes. Every time."

Takato furrowed his brow, part of him trying to work out why she was betting _his_ cards, but decided to let it pass. Tapping his hands on his pants, he thought hard about what to say.

_She is right in a way… _He chuckled softly.

"What's so funny?"  
"Oh…nothing."

"Takato, with you it's _never_ just _nothing._ It's either something incredibly stupid or just bizarre. What's up?"

Now it was her turn to scrunch up her face into a frown. She wondered how much she was going to regret pestering him about this. It seemed that every time she did he would say something that was more embarrassing than anything else, like that lame remark she made him say about her shirt.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how you're probably right about Yamaki. We do tend to clean up after them a lot, don't we?"

Rika _hmmphed,_ but her tone sounded a lot lighter now. "And they're supposed to be the super-advanced government organization too." She glanced down at Takato and finally offered him a small smile. "Thanks," she said, relaxing a little.

Takato smiled back. "That's what friends are for. So how come you bet with one of my cards?"

Rika slid down the tree so that she was sitting alongside him. "With how you play, if we were playing for ante, I would own your whole card collection by now," she said simply.

Takato remained confused on this point. "Yeah but…we don't."

Rika eyed him with amusement, causing the younger teen to squirm uncomfortably in his seat until he glanced away, blushing lightly.

_Gogglehead,_ Rika thought, looking away. Her smile slipped then as she thought about what he said. _Friends, huh?_

She sighed mentally and brought one knee up to her chest and leaned her chin on it. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that sort of thing, but in the interim there wasn't much else to do except wait for the inevitable to happen.

As she thought, she noticed Renamon's eyes turn up toward the sky, frowning slightly.

"Renamon?" she asked, grateful for any distraction at this point.

"I sense…something approaching," the vulpine digimon replied. "It is most…unusual. It feels like a digimon and yet…it's not." She turned toward her reptilian companion, who was currently testing the air with his nose. "Guilmon?"

"I don't smell anything, but I know something's out there." Guilmon's pupils were narrowed into slits, his virus instincts beginning to take hold. "It'll be here _soon."_

Getting up from his spot, Takato withdrew his digivice and activated its tracking function. A holographic compass materialized above its screen and swung wildly around. Rika soon joined him.

"Nothing," she said, turning to Takato. "How about you?"

He shook his head. "I don't have anything either, but if Guilmon and Renamon say something's coming than we definitely should be ready. Renamon, can you tell how strong it is?"

"No, Takato," the vulpine replied, closing her eyes and concentrating. "It feels far away at the moment. Odd."

"What is?" asked Rika.

"Just…I've never associated distance with a digimon bio-emerging before." Renamon opened her cool, azure eyes, looking obviously puzzled. The regular influx of enemies didn't concern her much. Save for a few instances, their power tended to be weak, but small oddities on the other hand did worry her. When it came to digimon, anything out of place was cause for concern.

"Takato?" Guilmon pointed ahead of them in the direction of the skyline. "That doesn't look like the sun."

As one, the three followed Guilmon's claw to spy a brightly lit object burning in the sky. It was just then that the holographic compasses that had been swinging wildly earlier now zeroed in on the light.

"I'd say that means X marks the spot," Rika said, looking up from her digivice. "Let's go!"

"Wait!" Takato began before Rika could take off. "Shouldn't we get a hold of the others and meet up with them first? We don't even know what it is yet. Or…uh…where it's going to land."

Rika rolled her eyes. The boy made a good point, but all the same she felt a bit annoyed. The light had already thrown her day off course as it was and she wanted to do something about it before it could do anything else.

Still, as she noted, Takato's point was well-founded.

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly. Pulling out her cell phone she immediately called up Henry's number and hit the call button.

**###**

"Yeah, Yamaki just called," Henry told Rika as he snatched his green-trimmed digivice from off his desk and clipped it to his belt. "I'm on my way now. Do you know where it's bio-emerging yet?"

_"No," _Rika said on the other end. _"Just that it's definitely heading our way. Looks big, whatever it is. Get here as soon as you can. I'm going to give the others a call."_

"Got it," Henry said, and with that he hung up. "Terriermon, are you ready?"

"If being ready involves something other than me playing Princess Pretty Pants with Suzie, then I was _born_ ready," came the voice of the diminutive, white-furred, long-eared digimon known only as Terriermon as he strutted up to his half-Chinese partner. Behind him came Suzie, Henry's younger sister holding her partner, Lopmon, a chocolate-furred twin to Terriermon who was every bit the opposite in personality as complexion.

"Are you going to fight bad guys?" Suzie asked, her eyes brightening up eagerly. "Can I come too?"

Before the boy could reply, their mother, Mayumi, entered the hallway, a stern look on her face. "No Suzie," she said in a firm voice as she knelt down next to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. Suzie's response was predictable as her lower lip took on a pout.

"But…Mom…"

"No buts, Suzie," Mayumi began, but Terriermon was quick to butt in.

"Now, now Suzie. You know that if we brought you with us the fight would be over too quickly. Henry needs to keep his strength up you know and he can't do that if you do all the fighting for him. Just like with his martial arts training."

In a flash, Suzie's pout was gone, but she looked up at Henry expectantly with a raised eyebrow.

"But Henry's already so strong."

Henry chuckled and patted his younger sister on the head. "It's all right, Suzie. We don't know what's coming through, so it's better that we keep you back in case things go bad for us. Besides, this way you can protect Mom."

Suzie gave it a moment of thought before finally nodding, tightening her hold on Lopmon.

"Okay," she said, her voice full of steely determination. Henry smiled and looked over at Terriermon. Extending an arm, the white-furred dog-bunny leapt up his arm and settled himself on the boy's head.

"Mush!" Terriermon cried gleefully as Henry straightened out.

Henry could only shake his head in amusement.

**##**

"So what was that about?" Henry asked his partner as he closed the door to their apartment behind him.

"What was what?" asked Terriermon, looking down at his partner, one eyebrow rising over a black, beady eye.

"What you were saying about Suzie ending fights quickly if we took her with us," Henry laughed, tapping his partner on the head with his knuckles. "That certainly kept her from throwing a fit about not coming."

"What?" Terriermon asked, sounding genuinely shocked, though Henry knew from long experience that it was anything but. "You've seen her when she gets me in a tutu! I'd want to stop fighting too if I was a rampaging digimon and knew that she wanted to stick me in one of those!"

"Most digimon don't have the benefit of that knowledge." Still laughing, the half-Chinese Tamer took off at a run down the hallway, quickly racing to the elevator and hitting the call button.

"Maybe we should advertise it," Terriermon suggested. "Make a message and send it off to the digital world like you guys did when we had to leave."

"Somehow…I don't think that would stop any digimon from showing up." _Worst case scenario we might actually get digimon looking for a fight _because _of that…_

"That's what you say," rebutted Terriermon. "But as someone who has faced Suzie's wrath, it's as good a game ender as Takato and Guilmon when they go into their Crimson Mode." The elevator door dinged open and they stepped in.

"Maybe," Henry chuckled, hitting the button for the ground floor. "But I'd rather keep her out of harm's way."

"Some protector you are then…" Terriermon remarked with a giggle as the doors closed on them.

**###**

"My word," said a large, rust-colored, mechanical digimon shaped almost like a large dumpster with a jetpack attached to it. On his head sat a green-colored, flower bonnet that bobbed up and down as he spoke. "What an unusual sight. Kazu!" Turning toward the window behind him he waited to see if his partner would emerge. Sure enough, the boy did.

"Hey, just got a grouchy call from Rika. She says that World War Three is breaking out in the sky and we need to get down to the park pronto."

"I don't know about World War Three," the mechanical digimon remarked, pointing up at the sky with a small shovel, "but there definitely is something going up there that I believe warrants our attention."

Leaning out of the window, Kazu craned his head skyward and spied the growing ball of light.

"Looks like you're right, Guardromon. Give me a moment to grab my stuff and we're out of here!" With that Kazu disappeared back into his room, only to stick his head out a second later. "And would you ditch the gardening clothes? We've got to look cool for when Ryo shows up to save the day!"

Guardromon glanced down at his waist whereupon was tied a dirt-covered apron. Below him was the flower garden that he was being forced to care for, per the instructions of his partner's mother for his nigh-constant trampling of them. A sorrowful expression came over his eyes from behind his armored visor and he took off the hat.

"Oh, very well…"

**###**

The beam of light sped through the darkness of the void, growing ever nearer as seconds ticked by into minutes. Watching from her computer, Riley ran her tongue over her lips. Ancile was programmed to go off once the data stream reached the edge of the atmosphere. So she watched, and waited.

Sixty seconds until it reached Shinjuku. Fifty. Forty. Thirty.

Twenty.

_Activate!_

A large green circle materialized on the series of screens on the walls surrounding her and Tally, enveloping the data stream.

"Ancile has activated and is now attempting to seal the target!"

As Riley watched, she felt a surge of relief as the target disappeared off her sensors.

"Ancile has successfully sealed the target," she reported. Below her, she heard Yamaki's lighter click as he closed it. Having lived with him as long as she had, she knew that this was his way of expressing relief as well.

"Continue monitoring the Ancile vortex and make a report," he said, flicking it open once more. "I want the Monster Makers to make a detailed analysis of the data."

"Should we inform the Tamers that it's all right for them to stand down?"

"Not just yet," Yamaki replied. "Let's keep them on standby until we know for sure that…"

Red lights suddenly flooded the room as alarms blared loudly. Riley quickly looked down at her readouts. Her mouth dropped in shock at what she was seeing.

"Backflow!" she exclaimed. "Ancile's vortex is reopening! Receiving new data! The target is back! It's bio-emerging!"

"Where?" Yamaki grated his teeth. Ancile… The program that he touted to his superiors as the next generation of protection for Japan, and by extension the Earth as well, had failed. That left only the Tamers.

Riley's fingers flew over her keyboard as she analyzed the data stream. The path remained the same…

She looked down at Yamaki. "Coordinates indicate that it will bio-emerge in Shinjuku Park."

Yamaki flicked his lighter closed with a loud snap.

_Right where the Tamers are._

**###**

A/N: It has been a while, hasn't it?

Got an itching to do some writing for plain old fun and this is the result. Some other ideas are coming to me as I write this, so we'll see how long I stick around this time. Can't guarantee fast updates though, as my original material is now taking priority, but it feels good to get back in the saddle again.

'Till next time.

-Crazyeight

7


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A War of Worlds

Chapter: 4

Jeri Katou shifted in her seat as she looked out the window, a small smile on her face as she thought about her old friends. It would be a while yet before the towers of Shinjuku would come into view, but she was now almost there. Soon she would see all the old familiar sights. The park, Guilmon's home…all the old stomping grounds, but most importantly those she left behind. Especially _him._

A vision of yellow goggles perched on a head of light brown hair, sitting above a pair of warm, crimson-colored eyes, flashed across her vision and Jeri found herself sighing wistfully. Beside her there was a giggle and at once a weight settled on top of her dark brown hair.

"Whatcha thinkin' about Jeri?" came the voice of a white-furred ball of digimon with wide, green eyes. His ears, which at first had been small expanded suddenly and folded around the girl's head. Jeri giggled.

"Nothing different from what you asked five minutes ago, Calumon," she replied, angling her eyes in an attempt to meet his. Returning her giggle, Calumon stood up.

"Are we there yet?" he asked their driver, Jeri's stepmother, Shizue Katou. The woman looked in the rearview mirror and smiled at the tiny digimon.

"Almost, but it's still going to be a while."

Bouncing off Jeri's head, the tiny creampuff of a digimon rolled onto his back. "How about now?"

"Calumon…" the older woman warned. Jeri laughed lightly.

"I think it was a mistake to feed him all those creampuffs before we left, Mom."

"I know. I should have seen it coming, but it's just too easy to spoil him." She furrowed her brow, glancing in the mirror again. "How did you get out of the car seat?" she asked Calumon. "I thought we had you strapped down this time."

"There's _nothing_ that can keep me down!" Calumon crowed triumphantly, flipping up into the air, his ears expanding again and allowing him to float in midair. Jeri tilted her head to one side questioningly, not for the first time wondering how he was able to do that without ending up being hit by the car seat.

Shizu could only sigh and shake her head.

"Jeri, can you see what you can do to keep him out of trouble? I can't have him distracting me while I'm looking for our exit."

"Sure thing," Jeri nodded, grabbing hold of Calumon and bringing him to rest in her lap. The tiny digimon squirmed a little before settling down…at least for the moment. Retracting his ears, he craned his head around and blinked his large eyes at her.

"So what's the first thing you're going to do when we see the others?" he asked.

"I told you," Jeri said, playfully scowling a little. "We're going to see the others."

"Yeah, but how? When?" He laughed excitedly and kicked his overly large feet in the air. "Who will you see first?"

Jeri took on a look of slight frustration and bit on the inside of her cheek. _If I didn't know any better, I could almost swear that he's implying something. Terriermon… Impmon… You two are too much of a bad influence on him…_

We'll check the park first," Jeri replied with an air of authority, patting Calumon on the head. "The cherry blossoms are blooming today, so it could be that they're all getting together later. Takato said that he and Rika were meeting up first to go watch them."

Her mind hung onto that particular memory from their conversation for a moment. Takato hadn't mentioned any details, but she had an idea that he hadn't been the one to bring up the subject—not after the last time she hooked him into trying to do so on Rika's birthday. Jeri felt a small smile play along the corners of her lips as she thought about the idea of Rika asking Takato to go cherry blossom watching with her. The boy, by his own admission, did not understand the hearts and minds of girls, and understood Rika's even less. This of course came as no surprise, given how she could be at times, and yet…

Jeri repressed a giggle. _I think he understands more than he realizes,_ she thought, remembering some of the conversations she had with them over the course of the past year since moving, both online and via phone. She didn't talk to them as much as she would like, but when she did that was the sense that she got.

"Rika and Takato are going to watch the cherry blossoms?" Calumon asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully, breaking Jeri out of her train of thought. "But didn't you say that you were going to ask him to go with you?"

Jeri's fingers tightened a little around the little digimon ever so slightly.

"I-I didn't say that it was going to be _right away,_" she emphasized, blushing a little at his inquiries. "I have the whole week. Besides, I can't just butt in while they're together. That…that would be rude."

"I guess." Calumon continued to tap his chin before jumping out of the girl's grasp and landing on the top of her head again. "So do you think Kenta still has that wormmon around his mouth? That must look really silly!"

"Wormmon?" Jeri asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you…? Oh! Is _that_ what Terriermon calls it?"

Calumon tilted his head to one side in confusion. "What else would it be called?"

"I think the first thing I have to do is tell Henry to keep Terriermon off the computer. I'm starting to regret letting you on to talk to the others as well. What _else_ is he saying?"

Calumon's expression shifted from one of confusion to hesitation. He recognized the look in Jeri's amber-colored eyes. That look of a lion that has discovered something that it doesn't like.

Fortunately for Calumon, his digital life was saved as the radio, which up to this point had been playing a gentle tune in the background, switched to the blaring noise that Jeri found all too eerily familiar this last year.

_"Please stand by,"_ came an automated voice. _"The National Digimon Detection System based in Hypnos has detected a high level digimon bio-emergence is forming in Shinjuku Park. All citizens are advised to seek shelter immediately."_

"Oh no," Jeri whispered as her eyes flittered up to the rearview mirror, meeting her mother's eyes.

**###**

Rika and Takato watched as the beam drew closer, the two of them trying to calculate just where it was going to land.

"Um…" began Takato as it grew in the sky at an alarming rate, rapidly transforming from a glowing star to an approximation of an oncoming fireball. "…do you think that we should take cover?"

Rika grated her teeth together, starting to think that Takato was right on this one. Before she could respond though, the beam pulsed, flooding the park with an intense light that caused them both to close their eyes suddenly as pain lanced into their vision. A brief, intense heat washed over them and the wind blew, causing the tree branches to sway loudly. Rika heard Guilmon howl briefly before being drowned out by the sound of something _huge_ rushing by them. The light intensified behind her eyelids for half a second before disappearing, taking with it the briefly rising temperature.

"What…was _that_ all about?" Takato said, speaking what was on everyone's mind as they all chanced opening their eyes.

"That could not be a digimon," Renamon said, her icy-blue eyes frowning. Her tail slashed a path through the air, and both Rika and Takato took a moment to note how tense her muscles were.

"Guilmon?" Takato asked, turning to the crimson-dinosaur.

"I don't know Takato," Guilmon replied. He was crouched down, his muscles equally as tense as his vulpine comrade. "It _feels_ like a digimon, but…"

"No digimon has ever bio-emerged like _that_ before," Rika finished for him, raising her blue-trimmed digivice. The holographic compass materialized above its screen, aiming ahead of her. "This is kinda weird…" Dismissing the compass, she looked up in the direction it pointed. They could all see a faint glow vanishing behind the tree line. Clipping her digivice to her belt, she took off in its direction. "Let's go!"

"Ah! Rika!" Takato exclaimed, breaking into a run after her, followed quickly by Guilmon.

"I'm not waiting for Henry," she shot over her shoulder at the boy.

"I wasn't going to say that," frowned Takato, trying to keep pace with her. "But we can't just go charging right on in without knowing what we're getting into!"

Renamon materialized beside the girl, nodding in agreement.

"I'll go on ahead," she said before vanishing into thin air. Rika scowled but kept up her pace regardless. After a few minutes, the light ahead of them began to grow, and the trio slowed down. Withdrawing her digivice, a holographic circle materialized, presenting them with a camera-view of the scene from Renamon's perspective.

"Anything?" Takato asked.

"There's no digital field," the girl replied, angling the digivice so Takato could get a better view. Coming to a stop, they took in the scene. In what appeared to be a clearing was a glowing ball of energy.

"What…_is_ that thing?" Takato asked. "That can't be a digimon."

"I don't know," Rika replied as the scanning function displayed the words _No data_ for them to see.

The Tamer turned toward Guilmon, who was presently sniffing the air.

"I smell digimon…" he said, only for Rika to cut him off with a sharp retort.

"You're just smelling Renamon, Dino-boy."

"Nuh-uh." Guilmon shook his head quickly. "I smell Renamon, but I smell another digimon too. D-Reaper didn't smell like a digimon at all."

Rika pressed her lips together into one thin line, getting a sense of déjà-vu.

"Man," began Takato. "This is almost like when the Deva's appeared."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," she said as Takato shook his head and started forward again. "I don't think we're going to get anything else out of this thing. We might as well…"

Before Rika could even finish her sentence, a massive explosion ripped free from the source of the light ahead of them and a thick fog—a digital field—blew over them. Wood splintered as tree trunks cracked and began to topple forward. Buffered by the blast, Rika and Takato both staggered, trying to retain their balance.

Another shockwave, this time even more powerful than the last one and in the next second the two were thrown off their feet, crashing to the ground. The pair immediately started to get to their feet, but no sooner did they do so that another pulsating blast—one stronger than the last one—struck them, and Takato found his feet start to leave the ground.

"Takato!" Instinctively, the red-haired girl grabbed hold of the teen by the wrist, nearly getting dragged off her own feet along with him, but she managed to keep her footing for the moment, and Takato quickly caught his balance.

Before either of them could catch their breath, there followed a particularly loud crack, and a tree toppled toward them.

**"Rock Breaker!" **roared Guilmon as he leapt toward the splintering juggernaut.

What happened next was too fast for either Tamer to follow, but both of them felt strong paws grab hold of them by the shoulder, and in the next second, after an ear-splitting explosion, they found themselves barely three feet away from the broken remains of the tree, Renamon kneeling next to them, a gloved arm wrapped around both of them.

"Nice save," breathed Takato, a shaky smile drawing up on his face as Renamon drew back.

"What happened?" asked Rika, brushing broken splinters from her face. Glancing to the side, she saw Guilmon approaching from the broken mess of the tree, looking none the worse for wear.

"The 'egg'," Renamon replied, "for lack of a better description, exploded." She narrowed her eyes and cast her eyes skyward. "Whatever was in it is now here."

"Where?" asked Takato, getting to his feet. Rika, who was already following Renamon's gesture, pointed upward. Seeing this, Takato did likewise. No sooner did he do so, his mouth fell open.

The creature was spidery-like in appearance, with four legs descending from a single, saucer-like head, but was covered in thin, metallic armor. It looked fragile as it towered over them, its head swiveling first this way and then that, taking in its surroundings.

Takato noticed Guilmon get down into a crouch, making a deep, animalistic growl while next to him Renamon's claws curled into tight fists. The goggle-wearing teen had the distinct impression that this creature's appearance was more than a little deceiving.

"Looks like it's show time," Rika said, raising her digivice to the sky, a light beginning to form in its screen. Snatching his own digivice off his belt loop, Takato did likewise, and in one voice they intoned the words that would cast the die of battle.

**"Biomerge activate!"**

Light exploded from their digivices, enveloping both Tamers and their digimon partners, merging their bodies together. Guilmon's form took on a more humanoid shape, losing his reptilian features and forming plates of white and red metal armor akin to a knight. A crimson cape materialized behind him and a shield and lance formed from his hands.

**"Guilmon, biomerge tooo…Gallantmon!"**

Cast in azure, almost lunar-like light, Renamon's form grew, and like Guilmon became almost completely human-like in appearance. Her fox tail and fur vanished in a ripple of energy, replacing it with a black body suit, violet boots and gloves, a face-mask resembling a fox, and a golden breastplate with shoulder guards. Long, silvery hair blew behind her, and was tied off at the ends, separating it into two ponytails. A bronze vajra staff materialized in her hands and she swept it around her in one smooth, graceful motion.

**"Renamon, biomerge tooo…Sakuyamon!"**

Their transformations complete, the light died down around them, and both got into combat positions. The creature, for its part, began to lumber forward, unmindful of the two now Mega-level digimon standing below it.

"We're going to have to contain it before it causes too much damage," Gallantmon spoke in the blended voices of both Takato and Guilmon. Next to him, Sakuyamon nodded.

"I can manage that," Sakuyamon replied, her own voice a combination of both Rika and Renamon's.

"All right. I'll head him off and try to slow him down." With that, they both leapt into the air, Sakuyamon toward the sky and Gallantmon in the path of the monster. Landing in front of it, Gallantmon spun around and readied his lance and shield.

In a burning orange sphere of light inside the mighty knight-like digimon, Takato saw and felt everything through Gallantmon's eyes. In tune with Guilmon's instincts now, he was definitely in agreement that this creature, however strange it was, most definitely was a digimon. What particular species he couldn't place, even with his nigh-encyclopedic knowledge, but that didn't matter right now. All that did was that it needed to be either contained…or destroyed.

"All right," he said, hefting his shield. "Better reason with it first…or at least try and get its attention." Taking aim with his lance, electricity flared around it.

_"Lightning Joust!"_ the knight boomed, and to suit the action to the name, he fired a stream of electricity that narrowly missed the spidery-creature as it continued to stomp forward. As a result, it hesitated and turned its saucer-like head toward him. Gallantmon didn't see whether or not it had eyes, but it was plain that he got its attention.

"Okay!" he began in a loud voice, hoping that the creature could understand him. "Stop right there! Uh… You're under arrest! Anything you say can and will…"

A mechanical tentacle whipped out in front of the creature and fired a beam of orange energy at Gallantmon. Shouting in surprise, he brought his shield up and the blast struck it full force, nearly causing him to topple backward from the impact.

_"Wow…"_ Takato grunted from within his sphere of orange light. _"I'd say it has an attitude problem…"_

_ "That was a really powerful attack Takato,"_ came Guilmon's voice from the darkness surrounding Takato's digital sphere. He sounded as though he were straining to talk, almost as though he were hurting. _"I don't know how many of those we can take!"_

_ "All right then, let's attack!"_

With a powerful battle cry, Gallantmon charged forward and leapt into the air, aiming his lance at the creature's head. The tentacle from where the blast came adjusted its aim and fired again. Once more, Gallantmon adjusted his shield to intercept the blast and he braced himself for the impact that was sure to follow.

The next sensation Takato and Guilmon knew was a searing heat that ripped through the shield like butter before detonating on his chest armor. Pain unlike anything Takato had ever known exploded across his body, and in the next moment he found both himself and Guilmon, no longer joined in their biomerged form of Gallantmon, falling toward the hard asphalt below.

Takato gasped a silent cry in realization, fumbling for his digivice and his deck of modify cards. His fingers, still shaking and his concentration in tatters from the pain that still burned along his nerve endings, clumsily pulled out the deck from his pants pocket, and quickly lost it, sending cards spilling through the air.

"Ah…_nuts!"_ he cursed, snatching at the cards as best he could, yet not catching a single one of them. The ground fast approached him, and he tensed up…

_"Gotcha!"_ Rika's voice cut through the wind that sung past his ears, and two powerful, slim arms wrapped themselves around both the boy and his falling dinosaur companion, bringing them both safely to the ground before either of them could blink.

_"You _really _can't do anything without me, can you?"_ Sakuyamon scolded in Rika's voice as she set them down.

"Rika!" exclaimed Takato, grabbing his shoulder as pain once more lanced through him—a ghost of the creature's attack. "Be careful. That digimon's attack is strong! It cut through Gallantmon's shield and…"

There was a bright glow of orange as the creature once more took aim and fired.

**"Crystal Sphere!"** Sakuyamon said, reacting quickly. At once a barrier of energy materialized around them, and the blast ricochet off its surface. Its failure was not without effect though, as Sakuyamon groaned and nearly went down to one knee. The sphere shuddered and flickered as energy crackled along its surface, seething like angry serpents.

"Strong…" she breathed. "Looks like you weren't kidding. You two better find some cover until you can get back on your feet. I'm going to try to…"

Another blast shot out from the creature, followed by another in rapid succession. The first struck the barrier and this time Sakuyamon cried out and this time did go down on one knee. The barrier flickered, vanishing as fire exploded across its surface, and the second shot rushed in at that moment, smashing into Sakuyamon's facemask before exploding.

6


End file.
